Medium of Shukaku : Hunters and Hermits
by KatherinWhim
Summary: A girl from our world,forced to assist Gaara for her own sake. review and criticism appreciated. flames tolerated.VOTE ON HOW MUCH BLOOD GAARA SPILLS IN COMING FIGHT SCENE. the poll won't be up long so vote now
1. Chapter 1: The Royal Seal

CHAPTER ONE

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything or any characters in this story that originally appeared in the Naruto anime/manga.

ROYAL SEAL

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LOCATION: a cave somewhere in the desert

" Shukaku protects itself by using the the medium's chakra, remaining heavily restricted untill the medium falls asleep.

several attempts in Gaara's life have been made in the past by skilled ninja. Clearly, they all failed. Occasionally, Shukaku takes it's

own initiative a step further and kills without the will of the medium. With our limited numbers, a direct attack is too risky,and a full scale attack on Suna is out of the question;

especially with the preparation time it would take to remove Shukaku from his body."

After he finished his speach, he and the the orgainization leader looked expectantly at the spy.

" The hermit is extremely skilled in creating seals. He claims he's found a way to seal off chakra completely;the Royal Seal, he calls it. This could provide us with a chance we may never have again."

The dark haired woman interrupted from her end of the table.

" If he knows how to do it, then why hasn't he completed the seal yet?"

"Ina," the leader whispered, "don't interrupt."

Ina was silent.

"The hermit loves to boast, but he doesn't allow any doubt of his capabilities. He's direct, scrutinizing of evidence, and leaves nothing to chance. Specifically, he requires the

durable, spreading capabilities of certain cursed seals. If our operative in suna can provide him with a forbidden scroll, I'm sure he'll make good use of it."

The leader seemed pleased.

" He sounds promising" he finally said.

"very well, we'll temporarily restore the memories of our highest operative in Suna. Removing the scroll is too noticeable, so he'll have a chance to practice his calligraphy"

The leader was silent in thought for a moment.

"We'll place a separate operative by the old man to deliver the information. Take lv. 2 precautions. Dismissed."

The occupants of the table began to leave, but the leader stopped the spy.

"Kyo," he called.

"Yes, Master Korogu?"

"You never told me this interesting man's name."

"He- he wouldn't give it, sir."

"Oh?"

"I asked, sir."

"I see..." Korogu muttered, almost losing himself in thought again.

"Very well. Dismissed."


	2. Chapter 2: Three years later

disclaimer: I do not own anything or any character in this story that originallt appeared in the naruto manga/anime

Ch2

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LOCATION: A rooftop near the edge of the village of Suna

Shukaku was thirsty.

He wouldn't dare to sleep tonight. He could feel it; it's thirst for blood.

_His_ thirst for blood.

The moon was high in the sky now; a like a glowing scyth cutting it's way across the the hirizon; over the sand dunes and beyond the walls of Suna.

The invasion of Kanoah was still months away.

It would still be months before he could satisfy his thirst with as many ninja's blood as would be foolish enough to insult him.

He _needed_ that blood, desperately.

That was why he existed.

Below, in the village streets, he could hear the soft footsteps of a few passersby. That was unusual at this time of night; especially in this section of the village

whithout any bar shop that would still be open.

The footsteps faded and, and Gaara lost himself in thought.

'_Without blood, Shukaku wil remain restless.__Will I be consumed by Shukaku if I don't kill soon? _

_If I don't justify my existence...' _

He was interrupted by a wonderfully sweet sound. The ninja of Suna were shouting to eachother. One distict word clung to his ears:

"Intruders!"

He could hear the sand shifting in anticipation. His pulse quickened.

'_My existence.... won't disapear.'_

It didn't matter what crime they had commited. They would satisfy Shukaku, along with any ninja who got in his way.

Under the moonlight it was nearly impossible to distinguish the dark shapes of Suna ninja from those of the intruders. He thought he could make out

the sound of wind from Tamari's fan and the klicking of Konkuro's puppets, but they seemed to be on different sides of town and moving farther apart.

'_They're spitting up' _he realized.

The sound of footsteps returned, but much faster and lighter than the ones before. Under the moonlight, he could make out a dark shape propell itself over Suna's wall, then run off alone towrds the doons.

'_They missed one,' _he thought. '_but I won't.'_

The chase had begun.


	3. Chapter 3: Meet Alli

Ch3 Meet Alli

Disclaimer: I do not own anything or any character in this story that originnally appeared in the Naruto Manga/Anime.

KW: I know it must be dull to read about all the characters seperately, but in the next chapter or two I can finally bring them all together.

Do you follow me so far? R and R, you can do it anonymously, but tell me what you think.

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LOCATION: Hermit's cave- between the desert and Alli's bedroom

'_I'm dreaming'_

She had opened the door expecting the hard wood planks of the hallway; instead, she stepped onto cold, soft sand.

It was dark, but the moonlight was bright, and illuminated a wide expase of curving doons. There wasn't a wooden plank in sight.

_'I must be dreaming,' _Alli thought again.

This was a beautiful, vivid dream. The realness of it was frightening.

She turned back to her room and looked at the blinded window above her bed. The summer sunlight was beginning to creep through even though it

was 5:00 AM. These were her last few days of sumer before her new high school schedule would take over. That's why she had to practice waking up early.

Her first acivity would be Speech club at 6:00 AM this year.

_'did I fall asleep again?_'

Nothing else indicated a dream. Her room was just as messy. Her art supplies, old shool papers, dirty and clean laundry were all where they should be.

All her baubles, all her keepsakes, soda cans, coffee cans, the layer of dust over every flat surface was all there. She looked at her computer desk beside her. She

had left two drawers open. One was stuffed with her "attendance awards" as she called them. It seemed like every kid got awards these days. Who knew if they actually meant anthing?

Her latest academic achievemen certificat had been shoved in halfhazardly and partlystuck out with the printed side facing her.

_'for outstanding aca.... and representation of..._'

Her stomach sank.

_'Didn't i read somewhere... You cant read in a dream, right?'_

_....._

She turned back toward the dunes.

'_ Was that book outdated?'_

She stepped outside the door and looked across he sky, shivering when she realized how cold it was.

"You're here much earlier than I expected."

Alli jumped.

The Hermit sat against a rock to her right, smiling at her.

Behind her, the door slammed shut.


	4. Chapter 4: The Trap

Ch4: The Trap

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything or any character in this story that originally appeared in the Naruto manga/anime.

KW: Yes! A bit larger than my other chapters, but I got laborous hunk of plot out of the way. Everyone clashes in the next chapter! FIGHT SCENE!

This is my first time using flashbacks so I hope every thing makes sense. please R and R

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LOCATION: The cave in the desert a.k.a. orgainization headquarters.

_'Damn! The preparations aren't complete yet!'_

Korogu alone remained in the room, slumped so far over the long meeting table that his pale hair spilled into disorderly pools on the surface. He rubbed his temples in frustration.

_'Rushing in now changes nearly all the variables I had calculated for.'_

_.....................flashback........................................................._

_" At this point, our only options are to act too hastily or act too late!"_

_Operative Kyo was standing next to Korogu to adress the table. The front of his clothing was stained with a splash of blood; blood, he claimed, that had resulted from a coughing fit of the old hermit._

_"My memories were surpressed for two of nearly three years, but that still didn't prevent his suspicion. Ever since I became his apprentice, the hermit has never revealed so much as his name to me, or allowed me to see _

_him __do any __work on the Royal Seal. If we wait too long he'll take the knowledge to his grave; I'm sure of that."_

_Dogo, a large, bald ninja, had been put at the head of the operation. Now he resumed questioning Kyo._

_"And have you confirmed that the seal has been completed?"_

_"Yes. I saw it's effects myself during the second year; he used it on three bandits when they broke in. It's even more powerful than we'd hoped._

_When the seal took hold, they could hardly move and they couldn't use chakra at all!"_

_"You saw how he applied the seal, then?"_

_"No, his back was to me."_

_..........................................end ..................................................................._

_'luring Shukaku now means direct invasion of Suna; that increases the chance of death on the front lines to 74%._

_Replacing those with power based techniques with evasively skilled ninja will compesate significantly, but there's a greater possibility that those in the second wave _

_will have to face Gaara in his full stregnth.__ Chance of death in the second wave is increased to 80% by switchg the ninja,_

_but failure in the first wave increases chance of failing the mission to 97%.'_

He looked up at the clock on the cave wall. Just an hour and a half untill dawn, when he would go out with the third wave to replace the first on the front lines.

_'The hermit is suspicious. there's a 13% chance he won't use the seal, even to save the life of his apprentice._'

He staightened in his seat and started pushing his hair out of his eyes..... and froze.

His hair was wet with a sticky, red liquid.

He loked around the table untill he found a small splash of red. It smeared easily when he ran his hand across it.

..................._flashback...................................................................................._

_Operative Kyo was standing next to Korogu to adress the table. The front of his clothing was stained with a splash of blood; blood, he claimed, that had resulted from a coughing fit of the old hermit._

_...............................................end........................................................................................_

Korogu stared at the liquid smeared across his hand, shaking.

His deep, black eyes grew wide with fury untill they glinted with light from the wall torches.

_'In that legnth of time...... the chances of blood remaining liquid in such dry conditions is..... 0%'_

His hand curled and clentched into a fist, so tightly that the veigns were raised and the nails bit into the flesh.

"Kyo,... you fool!..... You're_ his_ pawn!"

He siezed his whip and ran out of the room.

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KW: I'm told I'm not always clear. Basically, the hermit knew somthing was up and faked coughing up his blood to rush the attack.

Korogu figured it out because real blood would have dried.


End file.
